Daniela Papi's Blog

Yesterday was the official opening of PEPY's Bike-to-School Program. It was a night which had been planned for quite some time. The main point was to bring the parents and students together, announce our Bike-to-School Program, talk to the parents about the value of education, and get more students to enroll and stay through graduation in Chanleas Dai..... I hope it works. I have a feeling it will :-)

First were the speakers, the principal, me, speakers talking about the role education played in their lives (Sopat from Chanleas Dai, Tolors our English Teacher, Kulikar my friend who runs Hanuman Tourism) and then Phany, our super translator who introduced the BTSP. In between, the children did dances, sang songs, and performed games which they had learned in school. I think it may have been the first "school recital" type thing they had ever done. As I watched, I remember the countless school performances I had had, and I felt as my mother must have so many times..... proud. Proud that these children were up on "stage", or the steps of their new school building, singing off-key, but smiling, enjoying, and proud of themselves for being able to preform for their parents.

Two of our students spoke as well after the teachers were all introduced. Chun Ly, grade 5, might be the world's smartest kid. Really, he can't get enough of learning. He is so intelligent, so driven, so intrigued by learning. He got so nervous when he stepped up to the microphone, I was devastated and thought we had made a big mistake by asking him to speak.... but then he caught his nerve, and read from his notes (just being able to read impressed the parents so much), and he beamed the proudest smile when he was done. It was one of the best nights I'll ever have.

We were able to borrow a projector, as we are still looking to get one donated, and played a streaming movie of pictures, and the PEPY video by Daniela K., on the wall of the school. The parents were in awe - seeing photos of their children perhaps for the first time.

And the main part of the night was the shadow puppet show by Cambodia's Living Arts. They set up a HUGE screen and a fire behind it. The performers dance in front of the screen, or between the screen and the fire, with huge cut out shadow puppets. It's a traditional Cambodian art, but no students, and most parents, had never seen it.

The road our school is on is right on the main road up to the rural boarder with Thailand (where many can sneak across the boarder to work as illegal day laborers). The small engine powered vehicles (which look like lawnmowers with a cart attached) FULL of people go up the road all night to cross the boarder in the dark. At one point there were 10 of these trucks pulled over to the side of the road. People had come to the school selling food and snacks. We estimate that there were over 1000 people there.... it was nuts. But awesome..... really really awesome.